Chapter 159

Chapter Fifty-Three: Ai Aida

This atmosphere where only I can’t do it.

Joe raised his hand to wipe away the cold sweat forming on his forehead. As expected, no matter what, he couldn’t get along with someone like this. You never know what they’re thinking; they might want to be your enemy, or suddenly change their mind, making their position so unpredictable that it’s hard to deal with them. That’s why dealing with the Selfish Organization’s officer is even more difficult than simply being an enemy.

Moreover, who knows what this guy is planning to do openly or secretly to the girls of Pretty Cure? I must really warn them about him.

“Good morning, Mr. Ash.”

“Go-go-good morning.”

Seeing Arisu beside her greet Ash, Makoto could only follow suit and give a hesitant greeting, despite her anger at him.

“Good morning, how are you?”

“Thank you for asking, it’s better now.” Arisu touched the bandage on her nose and nodded politely towards Ash. “Mr. Ash, your bandage is very useful.”

“Of course, it’s a high-end product I got from the Saint Capital University Hospital. It works wonders.”

“…”

Listening to their conversation, Joe felt something wasn’t quite right.

I’m trying to remind the girls to be wary of this person, but why do you all seem so familiar?

Aren’t you supposed to be enemies because you fight each other? Could something unknown have happened in places I don’t know?

“Hmm↗↘↗?”

Hearing what seemed like ordinary conversation between Ash and Arisu, Ai suddenly became alert, her voice rising noticeably.

It’s strange, too strange. When did Arisu become so close with Mr. Ash?

Could something unknown have happened without me knowing?

“Arisu, and Mr. Ash…?” What happened? And does this mean that the bandage on your face was put there by Mr. Ash?

“Indeed, Mana probably doesn’t know,” Arisu calmly recounted yesterday’s events to Ai with a good mood. “In short, I asked Mr. Ash to help me train, and I successfully unlocked new powers.”

“Training? Mr. Ash actually agreed to it?”

Wait, the same Ash who often gave me a bad look during our conversations has easily agreed to Arisu’s request?

“Yes, indeed, Mr. Ash is actually a gentle person.” Arisu supported her cheek with a smile, but Ash next to her didn’t seem too pleased.

“Don’t say that, this word ‘gentle’ doesn’t suit me at all.”

“I’m praising Mr. Ash.”

“I don’t want such compliments.”

Watching Ash and Arisu banter, Ai’s嘴角开始抽搐 (corners of her mouth started twitching). Arisu, how did you do it? Isn’t this suddenly getting along already?

If Arisu knew what Ai was thinking, she would surely remind her kindly and tell her to interact with Ash more directly and gently.

As Ai pondered what made her different from Arisu, she suddenly remembered Rikka’s behavior today. Although she knew that Rikka and Ash had met because of rescuing someone, their relationship seemed to have evolved further, didn’t it?

“Rikka, have you and Mr. Ash had any interaction?”

Ai, direct as ever, asked her question outright, but Rikka blushed fiercely, attempting to silence her.

“Idiot Mana, don’t ask such straightforward and misleading questions!”

Seeing Ai’s aggrieved expression after being berated by her, Rikka had no choice but to explain further.

“In short, he took me through the experience of being a doctor, and he helped clean up his house for me.”

“It sounds like a fair trade.”

“Ah—! Being a doctor isn’t Rikka’s dream? She even asked Mr. Ash for help with such things?”

Upon Rikka’s revelation, Ai felt a century-old shock. Her childhood friend, who had always been by her side, suddenly seemed unfamiliar.

“Mana, you don’t know. This person acts so casually when performing surgeries just because of his high skill level! He can’t do any household work at all…”

Seeing Rikka continuously criticize Ash, Ai felt increasingly complex and disheartened. Rikka, saying you won’t let people misunderstand!

“What about Mr. Makoto P?!”

Repeated blows from friends, starting with Rikka and Arisu, were starting to wear down Ai. Her trembling hands rested on the last remaining friend’s shoulder.

“Mr. Makoto P would never betray me, right?”

“What do you mean by betrayal? You’re the one being strange here, Mana!”

Hearing Makoto’s objection, Ai hurriedly rephrased her statement, hoping to hear something reassuring from her. There’s no way Mr. Makoto P—the straightforward one—would have any special relationship with Mr. Ash, right?

“Of course not, I haven’t.”

“But are you sure?”

“O-of course!”

Seeing Makoto turn her head away, unable to meet her eyes directly, and her stammering voice, complete with the phrase “I’ve got secrets and nowhere to hide,” akin to putting silver in the wrong place, Ai gave up completely.

Fine, in my position as the first wanting to change Mr. Ash, I turned out to be the one lagging behind, huh? Ha ha—

Certainly, Ai couldn’t bring herself to swear or perform any antics, but the psychological pressure of lagging behind her friends weighed heavily on her.

“Mr. Ash…”

“Stop, please, don’t look at me with such an abandoned-animal expression, it pains my conscience.”

Hearing this, Ai doubled the sparkle in her eyes and stared at Ash.

Oh, my heart is soft; I can’t stand seeing such pitiful scenes.

So I’ll just avoid looking.

Witnessing Ash silently take out sunglasses from his pocket and put them on in front of her, Ai felt the ultimate insult to her dignity. All the委屈 (resentment) in her chest turned into anger.

“Mr. Ash, you bully people—!”

“Slap—”

Joe slapped himself across the cheek upon hearing the whole exchange. Despite being enemies, aren’t you guys actually getting along incredibly well?

Instantly, a thought of “oh, there’s nothing for me to worry about anymore” crossed his mind.

My heart feels worn out…

“Ha ha, I have business to attend to, so I entrust Ai-chan to you all.”

Placing the now well-acquainted baby Ai-chan into the girls’ hands with a defeated expression, Joe shuffled away dejectedly.

“Europa Ring and the Dark Ring flew off together.”

“Ash-san, she’s called Joe Okada, what’s the deal with the Europa Ring?”

“Who knows?”

Ash acted indifferent, looked up at the sky, and whistled the melody of some popular song.

“Ash…” Just as Ash was joking around with the girls, he heard Regina’s voice from his superior. Turning back, he saw Regina puff her cheeks and stare at him just like Ai did.

“How did you become so close with them, Ash? We’re on the same side!”

“Traitor, traitor!”

Seeing Regina ready to start a scene due to dissatisfaction, Ash rushed forward to calm her.

The red-haired fool can be ignored, but this golden-haired god of fortune can’t be ignored.

“No, Princess, don’t you want to make friends with them?”

“If I make friends with them, then I will also be closer to you, should you not be even happier?”

Regina paused, blinked her eyes in confusion, and thought about Ash’s reasoning. Perhaps it wasn’t too far-fetched…

“The Princess should understand, right?” Seeing a hint of anticipation in Ash’s expression, Regina quickly changed her complexion to one of “everything is under control.”

“Er, er, I understood, that was just a test. Overall, you did a great job. Work harder next time!”

Turning away secretly, Ash’s face instantly morphed into a ‘Perfect Plan’ look à la Light Yagami.